There's no "silver bullet" food that will cause a woman to get pregnant. There are, however, many foods that increase her odds of conceiving and successfully carrying a child, because they help set the stage for a healthy pregnancy by providing high-quality nutrients and plenty of important vitamins and minerals.
Fortified Breakfast Cereals
One of the most important nutrients for a woman hoping to get pregnant is folic acid. This compound is one of the B vitamins, and the body uses it in a variety of metabolic applications. Developing embryos need folic acid to help ensure proper formation of the neural tube, which goes on to become the spinal cord and column. The neural tube forms very early during pregnancy--often before a woman knows she's pregnant--meaning that having plenty of folic acid in the body while she's trying to conceive maximizes her chances of having the vitamin available to her child. Fortified breakfast cereals, apart from supplements, have the highest quantities of folic acid according to a list published by the National Institutes of Health.
Fruits and Vegetables
Fruits and vegetables are nutritional powerhouses, because they are low in calories and high in fiber, vitamins and minerals. As such, they provide many high-quality nutrients to both expectant mothers and their babies, and they therefore make excellent pre-pregnancy foods. A woman who gets lots of vitamins and minerals from natural food sources before conceiving will have the best chance of starting her pregnancy in good health and at a healthy weight.
Fish
Many types of fish provide abundant good nutrition. Cold water fish, like salmon, contain high levels of omega-3 fatty acids like DHA note Drs. Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz in their book "You: Having A Baby." DHA helps fetal brain development and also has anti-inflammatory properties that are beneficial for the mother. Before trying to conceive, women should aim to have one to two servings of salmon or other cold-water fish every week to ensure optimal health and increase the amount of DHA available in the body should conception occur.
References
- National Institutes of Health: Folic Acid
- "What to Expect When You're Expecting"; Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel; 2008
- "You: Having A Baby"; Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.; 2009
